Existing power release solutions for vehicles occupy substantial space in the vehicle to facilitate the actuator and release mechanism. Today's systems often comprise of many parts resulting in a complex and complicated construction. For example, in power-operated systems such as power release decklid latch, power actuators are utilized to perform the desired function(s). These systems employ electrical motors, speed reducing gear sets, clutches, etc. Such powered systems tend to be complex and costly.
One method of simplifying latch construction is to use SMA wire to actuate the latch instead of traditional actuators. However, SMA wire does not always provide a satisfactory response level, given the cooling times required. Existing SMA flexible cable decklid release mechanisms with traditional binary (Ni—Ti) SMA wire exhibit longer cooling times at elevated operating temperatures within the specified automotive temperature range of −40 C and +80 C.
It is therefore desirable to provide an actuating device to selectively enable manually or remotely controlled actuation in vehicle environment, which is simple, reliable and economical. It is further desirable to provide an actuating device which is fast and reliable. It is also desirable to save space and allow a smaller packing envelope by using a SMA actuator instead of conventional technology.